Written by Olivia Cyrus
About this article: Jamie Harmon, the creative force behind Amurica Photo, has built his business on an unconventional foundation and an early hobby turned obsession. I spoke with him to dive into his distinctive photographic style that’s both ironic and authentic and his current work highlighting Memphis staples for Shelby County A to Z.
Jamie Harmon named his business after a discarded metal sign he found behind an abandoned work building.
“I found a Bank of America sign,” Harmon said. “I grabbed it and put it in my studio, and a friend of mine was looking at it, and she said, ‘Well, if you take the ‘N’ from bank and turn it upside down, you’ll have a ‘U’ and then you can have ‘Amurica.’”
Upon receiving the suggestion, Harmon took to the Urban Dictionary website to define the term. The crowdsourced online dictionary, known for its humorous definitions for contemporary phrases, defines the term ‘Amurica’ as “the land of the red, white trash, and blue.”
Harmon found the variation of the word ‘America’ “kitschy” and “campy” and decided it suited his business's ironic, unique style. The name quickly gained traction, and 15 years later it has stuck around and defined the brand of art Harmon is notable for.
Jamie Harmon is the owner of Amurica Photo and was the photographer for Shelby County A to Z, a children’s picture book created by the Shelby County government to celebrate the history and culture of the largest county in Tennessee. He took over 100 original photographs of the city of Memphis for the book.
Harmon’s photography career began at the age of 11, when his aunt gifted him a Yashica camera. As a child, Harmon and his family moved often, frequenting various Southern towns peppered across Mississippi and Arkansas. In these relocations, Harmon found it difficult to maintain friendships. Furthermore, he sought camaraderie and comfort in the pictures he took of the different places he lived.
“I didn’t really have time to make friends, but I would just take pictures of things that we saw everywhere that we moved,” he said. “I would take pictures of the forests and the railroad tracks, and sometimes I’d put the timer on and do selfies. I still have a selfie from when I was 12 years old in the woods, which is really hilarious.”
It was this affinity for photographic experimentation that has become a trademark of his work today. He compares the experience of trying to capture something for the first time to the “gold fever” that characterized the 1850s gold rush in California.
“People would be in a stream panning for gold, and they got obsessed with finding more gold. And even if they never got the gold, they were obsessed with the act of finding it. So I think the act of finding photos and documenting things became my obsession.”
This obsession led to Harmon trying his hand at many forms of photography. From working at Memphis Riverboats, photographing tourists that rode the boats, to doing freelance for magazines, Harmon remained steadfast on never adhering to just one style of picture-taking.
Moving back to Memphis in 2010 to be closer to family, Harmon sought to find a new way to keep himself preoccupied. So he bought a trailer.
“I had used trailers in the early ‘90s as ‘one-hour photo trailers’ where I would travel around and take pictures of people. But in 2010, I had this idea of using this old camper to make a portrait studio that was mobile. So the idea would be that I would give people their photos; it would be weird and freaky, and it would be an art project.”
This mobile photography project became later known as ‘Amurica Photo,’ Harmon’s current photography business.
The slogan for Amurica Photo is “visual anthropology through photography,” a phrase Harmon developed as a response to the difficulties he encountered in the school and the unique way he likes to learn.
“I have been to six different universities and have probably about 150 hours of college, but no degree because I couldn’t stick with one thing. But what I stuck with most was cultural anthropology. And one of my teachers, we got to know one another, and I would mail postcards to him of pictures I had taken. And he said, ‘There was a magazine that went defunct called ‘Visual Anthropology’ and every picture you take reminds me of that.’”
Harmon’s interpretation of the phrase exists along the lines of looking at the human condition.
“All my pictures were ironic or a document of what was going on. If I went to a kid’s birthday, I wasn’t trying to get the picture of the kid blowing out the candle; I was going to get a picture of the kids who were crying because they didn’t get to blow out the candles.”
He says that the stereotypical photos people take, or the “meat and potatoes of the job,” do not interest him. Instead, he approaches every photographic encounter like a scavenger hunt, with a lack of expectation or plan. He also appreciates collaboration and using spontaneity to create art that subjects and consumers are proud of.
Getting to work with Shelby County A to Z was particularly interesting in that regard, as it gave him a chance to work with writers, government administrators, and literacy experts and create a book that highlights the overlooked gems in Shelby County.
Harmon believes that the book’s emphasis on local institutions will allow readers to feel a sense of pride in where they are from.
“I think a lot of these kids are going to see parts of Memphis that they recognize, and I think that makes you feel a little more important. It makes it seem like your city’s worth being in the book that’s in your library. Not only is it promoting Memphis to other people, but it’s promoting Memphis to Memphians. That makes a big difference right there.”
Want to learn more about Shelby County A to Z? Register for our free Community Expo!
The Shelby County A to Z Community Expo will be held at the Benjamin Hooks Library on August 17th from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. To learn more about the event, go to shelbycountyatoz.com.